Hampton Roads Indicators of a Seller's Market

2018-02-12

For homeowners interested in selling in the Hampton Roads area, 2018 is starting off as a seller’s market. January’s number of active listings and the months supply of inventory continued to decline year-over-year, even as sales rose.

Overall, the region’s residential active listings were down 6.87% year-over-year for the month of January, with 8,773 available homes. The area’s active inventory has declined year-over-year for 30 consecutive months. Each of the region’s seven major cities (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News) experienced decreased inventory except for Virginia Beach, which was up a modest 1.37%. Norfolk had the most significant drop in inventory for January, down 16.25% year-over-year.

January’s supply of residential home inventory is currently 3.92 months, down 10.30% from the same period of time last year. Experts describe a balanced market as 6 months’ supply of inventory. In comparison, the Hampton Roads region has been below a six months’ supply for 27 months (since November 2015), and it has declined year-over-year for 33 consecutive months (since May 2015). Four of the region’s seven major cities currently have less than 4 months’ supply.

While inventory was low, residential pending sales remained healthy. The number of homes that went under contract in January 2018 rose 14.57% compared to January 2017, with 1,871 units. Pending sales for Portsmouth and Newport News rose significantly year-over-year, up 47.92% and 38.68% respectively. Suffolk was the only major city to undergo a decline in pending sales, down 14.73% year-over-year.

The region’s residential median sales price rose a modest 3.42% in January 2018 to $225,000, as compared to $217,550 in January 2017. All of the major cities experienced gains in median sales price ranging from 1.39% (Norfolk) to 25.20% (Portsmouth).